


Hurricane (reader insert)

by TopsieTurvy



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Found Family, Lloyd is responsible, Manipulation, Mental Illness, OC, OC villain - Freeform, Original Character - Freeform, Original Villain Character - Freeform, Reader Insert, Reader has imposter syndrome, Reader-Insert, Wu has regrets about Morro, also OC friend, fic set after season 5, no beta we die like clowns, reader is about the same age as the ninja, reader is next master of air, reader's friend is a huge kai fangirl, tell me if i missed a tag, themes of drug use and addiction later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:27:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27409588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TopsieTurvy/pseuds/TopsieTurvy
Summary: After the final death of Morro, rumours of a new master of wind have arose, and the ninja rush to get them on their side before someone else does. With no experience and new, unusual powers, Y/N must train to gain control over them and be worthy of the title of master, or at least enough to be useful...(Set after season 5!)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	1. Watching

**Author's Note:**

> My first reader insert fic, and first fic in a while! Gonna be honest, I have a bunch of chapters planned, but there’s only like a 70% chance I’ll keep the motivation to flesh them out. I’ll try my best!

"ninja!" Wu called, catching his students attention.

"Yes sensei?" Kai asked, looking up from his game to his master along with the rest of the Ninja

"As you know, with Morro’s... demise” He continued, the others wincing slightly at the mention of his first students final death “the element of wind has chosen a new master, and recently, there have been reports of a person who’s stories line up with the abilities of such an elemental.”

"so you want us to go check it out?" Cole nodded.

"Yes, but do not approach until you are sure. Gather information to see if these rumours are true. We cannot risk frightening them away.”

”come on, Sensei? When have we ever scared anyone away?” Jay grinned, glancing up from his book.

“I don’t think you-“ Wu started

Lloyd interrupted his Sensei’s response with a quick response “We’ll be careful. I promise, Sensei.”

————

It didn't take them long to reach new ninjago city, it never did in the destiny's bounty. Buildings flashed by beneath the shadow of the ship, a cacophony of sounds, smells and colours filling the air of uptown new ninjago. However the person they were looking for didn't live in uptown, and as they flew further and further into the city, the smaller and darker the buildings got.

it was eventually necessary to leave the ship, lest too much suspicion be raised. If this person was conscious of their abilities, they may not respond in the best way to the bounty dropping down on top of them. 

Their vehicle was disguised as a simple van with no obvious markings, and coloured in an unassumingly dull red. Their target supposedly lived in a home not far from where they ultimately decided to park, so keeping an eye on it was easy.

They watched the building for nearly 3 hours before a sudden sharp gust caught their attention, flicking the pages of Jays book. 

Unlike a natural wind, it didn't have a gradual build, taking the ninja by surprise. A person was running out of the house, seemingly unbothered by the breeze tugging at their hair and ruffling their clothes as they dodged around the corner and out of view. the ninja looked to each other, nodding before leaving the van.

\-------Reader POV-------

it had been a long day for you. As a college student, you had to move away from your parents in order to be closer to school. 

Maintaining your education, work and extra curricular activities was definitely a balancing act, but one you were willing to maintain for the sake of your sanity. Your days often centred around work and school, so having time to spend doing something you enjoyed with friends was a welcome relief, even if sometimes you just wanted to stay at home.

This day had been an especially annoying one, starting with you waking up nearly an hour late. This resulted in you barely having time to wash and clothe yourself before having to head out, breakfast being downgraded to a dry, bland granola bar eaten quickly pre-lecture. 

Lunch was similarly tasteless: a slightly squished cheese sandwich that was made the night before and a room temperature bottle of water to wash it down. Stopping before a second to rest was a mistake. Your eyes had grown so heavy, pure exhaustion dragging you down into an an accidental nap.

After this was a panicked blur as you woke up and realised the time, rushing home to put on work clothes and get to your job. It was only as a gas station cashier, but your boss was very critical when it came to being late, often reprimanding you for your tardiness. 

Although you never enjoyed those talks about your failure, you didn't particularly care what was said, usually just nodding and apologising until you were let back out to work. 

This time was different though. Your boss had apparently been especially irritable today, and threatened that if you were late again, you would be fired. 

This would've been reasonable if you were half an hour or so late, but you were not. An occasional two minute tardiness, at least in your opinion, did not warrant such a threat and honestly just made a bad day worse.

You had snapped, yelling back. It was something you had, perhaps surprisingly, not done before. But before he could respond the strangest thing happened. 

The tiny window at the back of the office snapped open, wind howling in, throwing paper haphazardly about the room. The window had always had a weak latch, and it had been quite blustery today. Maybe this would encourage your boss to actually fix some of the faulty facilities...

In the chaos you had managed to slip out, and he hadn't come to talk after that, so you hoped he had forgotten about your outburst. This shift was as uneventful as ever, you and your co-worker making casual conversation to pass the time.

It was a blessing when your shift finally ended, allowing you to leave the perpetual boredom of manning the register of a downtown gas station behind.

Briefly you went home, to change from your work clothes into something you could exercise in. Your friend had invited you to go with her to a new sports centre. You can't exactly remember what about it she was so enthusiastic about, but you vaguely remember an obstacle course being mentioned.

You were excited to have a reason to go regardless, as development of downtown was often slow. advancements came months, sometimes almost a year later than the more populated uptown. Passing a construction site every so often was uplifting. A sign of progress was one of hope, in your opinion. 

The newest building was a sports centre, and was much nicer than most things in the neighbourhood, its facilities including a pool, gym, and several outdoor and indoor courts. It was definitely something for the whole community to use. It had potential to enrich the lives of so many... It made you happy to see it finally finished.

You met her outside the centre, her waving hand catching your attention as you walked over.

Elaina was a girl of average height with coffee brown skin and dark eyes, Her braided hair was held up in a high ponytail, and a duffel bag at her side.

"Y/N!" She giggled, throwing her arms around you "Its so good to see you!"

"You too, you too!" you laugh. She was your best friend. An upbeat ray of sunshine in your often cloudy life. 

Taking your hand, she led you through the doors and into the lobby. It was a bright, open area with a high ceiling. Through a tall window opposite to the entrance you could see the pool filled with people of all ages, and through another window the left you could see a long room packed with a wide variety of gym equipment. Excitement welled in your chest, a smile working its way onto your face. It was rare you got to go somewhere so... so nice.

"Y/N! Hey!" Your friend giggled, waving a hand in front of your face. You stopped admiring the lobby, laughing lightly as your friend once again took your hand and led you further inside.

"Its so nice to have this place finally be open! I've been checking it nearly every day" She smiled

"It is! Lets just hope it stays that way" You sigh

"Don't be such a prophet of doom, Y/N! We only just got here!" Elaina scolded lightly, shaking her head

"Yeah, I guess you're right." You smile, before asking "So what have you got planned?"

"Oh! I'm glad you asked" She grinned "I saw on the website, that this place has an outdoor grass area with an assault course!"

"Wow, really?" You nodded

"Yeah! I really want to try it out, even if I don't know if I'll be able to finish it" She shrugged

"Lead the way, I guess" You grin, gesturing to the set of doors leading outside

\-----

The outdoor area is bigger than you had thought. You knew that the plot was originally big, but you had assumed most of it had gone to the building. It was refreshing to see the lush greenery lining the edges of the area, the smell of grass and warm asphalt filling the air. People were already on most of the courts, good natured games or practice being enjoyed by all.

"C'mon! I see it! Lets go!" Your friend gasped, pointing to the end of the field. You could see lines of rounded wooden beams, with smoothly painted metal bars shining in the sun. Not really having much of a choice, you allowed yourself to be dragged down to the course, allowing you to see it in its entirety.

The course was as long as the area allowed, with several people already running the course. Tunnels, vertical climbs, balancing beams and rope ladders were just a few of the sections. You barely noticed your friend had left your side before they were calling to you from the start.

"Jeez, Y/N! You're being such an airhead today!" She complained, but you could tell she didn't really care. You joined her, as she continued “on the count of three! Whoever gets to the end first buys the other a snack after.”

”you’re on!” You laughed, nudging her before taking a deep breath as she shouted:

”3!”

you exhale slowly

”2”

The crack of a bat and ball sounded in the background

“1”

Shouting of children, some cheering, some yelling

“g- Y/N DUCK!” Elaina shrieked

You looked up to where she pointed to see a ball arcing through the air towards you. A gasp flew from your lips as your arms lifted to protect your head from the incoming blow.

The ball never hit though, falling some way to the side of you, bouncing hard off the concrete and onto the wall with a dull ‘thock’. Silence hung is the air as the ball rolled to a halt, everyone's eyes seeming to be on you.

“Wow.... I thought that was going to hit you for sure!” Your friend laughed, relief evident in her voice as she broke the silence.

”me too...” you nodded, staring hard at the ball before turning back to the course.

\----

The ninja knew it. Definitive evidence of their power. They had all watched as the ball swerved to the side just as it was about to hit them. 

"But... could that've been the wind?" Lloyd hummed sceptically.

"Really? Come on!" Cole frowned, rolling his eyes.

"Remember what Sensei said. We cant take chances. If we scare them off, it'll just take longer to find them again." The green ninja confirmed

"This is boring! We have evidence! Can't we just go home?" Jay whined, resting his chin on his hands.

"Ugh... Fine. We can go home for now, but we're continuing surveillance tomorrow."

"Finally! I'm starving..." Cole sighed, standing and stretching "And I'm not making dinner tonight..."

———

The next day, you met your friend at the same time, at the same place. The day before was fun, but you had thoroughly exhausted yourselves on the assault course, every finish being too close to call a win, both of you ending up too tired to try anything else and agreeing to come back the next day.

When she saw you this time, she didn’t wait to talk first, instead taking your hand and leading you inside. This confused, and somewhat frightened you. It wasn’t often that she was quiet in her greetings, and it wasn’t until you were walking through into the gated outside area to explain.

”Y/N, have you noticed anything weird lately?” Elaina asked, a concerned frown etched onto her face.

fear prickled in the pit of your stomach, gulping before you responded “no... why?”

“You haven’t noticed them?” She hissed, looking worried

”noticed who?” Your eyes widened slightly.

”I... I don’t know... I’ve just been seeing these people following you around... But if you haven’t noticed them... and they’re keeping their distance...” she muttered, looking around herself “ I might just be being paranoid, but tell me if anything feels off. Anything at all.”

it took a second for you to internally process what had just been said, body acting on instinct with a sharp nod and a casual smile as you said “I will. Don’t worry.”

She didn’t look convinced. You put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly and smiling “I’d tell you. I promise.”

Her face softened, shoulders lowering as she nodded. You both walked through the outside area once again, ready to do some more exercise. There was about the same number of people as last time. She lead you over to one of the gated courts, opening the door with a rattle. The people inside waved you over, sweat glistening on their skin from the heat and exercise.

”You wanna play?” A young girl grinned, throwing a ball over to you. You catch it, nodding as you throw it back. The girl deftly caught and threw it, the ball sinking cleanly into the net, A small cheer erupts from the group in congratulation.

"Best out of three?" Elaina suggested, glancing to her friends

"You're on!" A boy grinned.

\---

"Come ON Jake! That was my only ball!" The girl- who you now knew as Tara- groaned, shaking her head.

"I-It was an accident!" Jake mumbled, glancing up at the ball that had become wedged up in an overhanging tree branch. 

"Now how will we play? It was 2-2!" Elaina frowned "I wanna win!"

"In your dreams! I'll get it down..." Tara sniffed, jumping up to try and smack the ball down. She didn't get high enough to even rustle the leaves, the ball staying stubbornly stuck up in the branch. A few more fruitless leaps were attempted until she huffed angrily, stomping off.

"Let me try" Your friend sighed, she too trying to jump up and hit it. She got higher, but still nowhere near close enough. After everyone that was playing had a try to hit it down, it came to you to attempt to get it. Everyone was frustrated, simply wanting to finish the game. You took a deep breath, closing your eyes as you crouched down. You didn’t want this day to be ruined for your friend. You just had to jump high enough. Come on... you can do it...

As you pushed from the ground you opened your eyes, straining to reach up to the ball. Leaves rustled as a breeze passed through them, your hand pressing against the bottom of the ball. For a second, it didn't move, and a moan of disappointment echoed across the court, then it suddenly came free, rolling down the branch and falling to the ground below. You took this chance to grab the branch above, holding onto it with both hands.

A cheer erupted from below as the ball bounced across the court, Tara and the rest taking off to chase it as the game apparently restarted. you turned to watch them, a flash of colour catching your eye. You looked up, briefly making eye contact with a blue clothed person crouching on the roof. They ducked down, and you jolted, letting go of the branch.

You fell with a thump, groaning as you felt your sports clothes tear where they caught on the rough ground. Elaina stopped, rushing over to make sure you were ok. She was saying something, but you couldn't hear it, panic flooding your mind. She was right. Elaina was right there was people following you oh god what are you going to do oh god oh god oh-

"Y/N!" Elaina cried, shaking your shoulder. You look up at her, shaking your head as you muttered "You're right.... I think I... I saw someone..."

\-----

You had stayed until the centre had closed, your friend trying everything to distract you. She had brought you food, but you were too nervous to eat... She had suggested the gym, but you didn't feel like letting your thoughts wander as they always did when you used the machines... Neither of you had brought swimwear so you couldn't go into the pool...

You had considered calling the police, but what would you say? 'Oh I saw a blue smudge on the roof and I think it was a person?" They would laugh... Your only option was to go home, and your friend had thankfully insisted on accompanying you.

“I still think you should just go to my house... it’s not that far...” your friend whined for the umpteenth time.

“Your house is the other side of town. It’s too far from school. I’d never be on time.” You insisted, rounding the corner to face your door “I need to-“

Your door...

Which was open.

You heart stopped, blood stilling in your veins as you saw the darkness inside. Oh god. Could you have really been so careless as to not lock the door? Had you been robbed? Had you forgotten to close the door? Could it be the person from the roof? Thoughts swirled around your head, mind fuzzing with nerves as the darkness inside swallowed your vision whole.

Elaina grasped your arm tight, pulling you back to reality as she repeated “Y/N. We should call the police... we really should call the police..”

You wracked your brain, trying your hardest to rationalise this situation. You must've left it open. You had simply forgot to close the door when you left... no one is going to be there... No one would even bother with the broke collage student's home.

”Let... Let me just check inside. I probably just left the door open” you sighed, pulling away from her.

”no! Y/N come on! I know you don’t want to worry me but let’s just go...” Elaina frowned

Usually you would listen. You would run to the nearest police station and stay there. But something was different. Something was off. Dirtied concrete crunched under your shoes, nearing the door as if you were drawn inside by an invisible force. It just didn’t feel... dangerous. It felt calm. Tense, but mostly calm. You reached out, slowly pulling the door open.

It was... normal?

Well, normal-ish. Yes, some drawers were open and papers stuck out but nothing seemed to really be missing. A frown pulled at your lips as you stepped inside, glancing through open doors and into the darkened rooms. Appliances were still in their places, (you could see their little lights blinking) and cupboards had been pulled open and closed hastily. It was like whoever had been here was... looking for something?

A muffled clatter caught your attention, heart jumping up into your throat as you froze in place. It had come from down the hall. Calm.... it’s nothing. Deep breaths.

Your body seemed to move on it’s own as you approached the only closed door. A warm bar of light spilled from under it, hushed voices murmuring inside. So there were people still inside. More than one if you heard right. You pressed your ear against the door, trying your best to hear what was being said...

”nothing here...go...” a low pitched voice said, before being hushed gently. It was hard to make out what they were saying, but you could still hear a few words here and there. You hoped it would be enough to understand what they were doing in your home.

"gotta... drawer?" A female voice hummed, a hum confirming whatever muffled question had been asked.

"what if... here?” A higher pitched person argued

”not yet... find...” a new voice disagreed. So they were looking for something. You wondered what it was.

”here! I think I-“ The higher pitched voice yelled, being cut off by a chorus of shushing. You shuffled away from the door, leaning your back against the wall beside it. So: If they weren't taking electronics, and they weren't taking important documents, what were they here for? What did they find? It was weird, heart pulsing as you tried to work out what they’d even want from in there. Maybe you should listen some more? 

Once again, you pressed your ear to the door... No sound. Silence had fallen across the home, making your heartbeat sound almost deafening. Oh god, had they heard you? Why was there nothing? Did they find what they came for? Did they leave? Where there even people there in the first place? Lost in your thoughts, you barely had time to register the click of a doorknob.


	2. Discovered

\---half an hour prior---

The ninja weren't used to breaking and entering. 

Sure, they had snuck into villain strongholds and the like, but never into a civilian house.

"Hurry up! We look so suspicious..." Jay worried, shifting his weight anxiously

"I am going as fast as I can, Jay. Lockpicking is a methodical process." Zane frowned, concentrating on trying to feel the pins setting inside. Being a nindroid made it significantly easier to pick the lock, but he was not very experienced, and the Ninja had been huddled around the still closed door for what was certainly a suspicious amount of time. "But I am nearly finished."

Only a few seconds after he said this, he pushed the tension wrench in, the lock clicking as it finally opened. A collective sigh of relief escaped them when the door opened. Ninja filed into the dark house, the unfamiliar layout almost intimidating

“Let’s each take a room. It’ll be faster that way.” Lloyd instructed, pointing to doors as he continued “Jay, You check that room. Cole, take this one.”

The two ninja nodded, entering the rooms to the left and right of the group while the remaining ones proceeded deeper into the home. The hall was an L shape, revealing only two more doors around the corner.

”Ok, Zane, Nya: go back to the other two. Kai, we’ll check these out.” Lloyd corrected, their small group splitting off into pairs.

The room he and Kai entered was a bedroom. It wasn’t messy, but not entirely tidy, piles of paper and books spread across most surfaces. Lloyd’s mom liked to call this kind of place ‘lived in’.

The green ninja silently pointed to a desk to the right of the door, to which the red ninja began to search. The fluttering hiss of moving paper was the only sound save from the squealing of old floorboards and the scrape of drawers from the other rooms.

They had been searching the room for about twenty minutes now, Kai getting increasingly jumpy over time. The near-silence in an unfamiliar place unnerved him. He had been searching for what felt like forever, and still nothing. Just notes and textbooks and notes and more notes!

”Lloyd, this is pointless!” He groaned, breaking the silence.

”Well, if you’re not gonna search, go check on the others.” The ninja in question sighed, nodding to the door “I’ll stay here.”

The squeak of an opening door was expected, the shrill cry from the red ninja was not. Zane’s glowing blue eyes cut through the darkness of the hall, Cole standing next to the robot with a surprised expression. Silence settled in a thick blanket over them, quickly torn to shreds when a disbelieving bark of laughter jumped from the black ninja. The group dissolved into giggles at Kai’s reaction, even Kai himself chuckling quietly.

”what happened?” Jay’s voice whispered from the doorway, making Cole shriek, jumping backwards. The group only laughed more at the situation.

they were all relieved to have the oppressive aura of anxiety lightened, even if it was through this.

”you guys finished searching the other rooms?” Lloyd managed, the occasional giggle still bubbling up.

”yes, but we didn’t find anything.” Zane confirmed, shaking his head with a frown.

”that’s ok. There’s more stuff in this room than we thought, anyway. You guys can help us in here.”

They had only been searching for a few more minutes when a sharp clatter shocked the ninja into stillness, tension hanging thick in the air as they turned to the origin of the sound. 

Kai stood stiff next to a shelf, a wooden picture frame resting on the ground beside it.

"Kai..!" Nya hissed, Shaking her head at her brothers clumsiness. The picture frame had been nudged off while he searched, it seemed, luckily not breaking when it hit the ground.

“I’m still nervous! My hands are shaking...” the red ninja admitted, crossing his arms over his chest.

”There's gonna be nothing here. We should go before they get back ” Cole frowned. It was uncharacteristic of him to be so pessimistic, but maybe it was because this wasn't like their usual missions.

"We gotta find something soon. Did you check that drawer?" Nya asked, Jay humming in confirmation.

"what if there isn't even anything here?” Jay fretted, leafing through a pile of what seemed to be schoolwork before opening the drawer Nya had pointed to "We haven't found anything! We should just go home before we’re caught..."

”We can't give up, not yet, and we’re not going to be caught. We have to find something, anything.” Lloyd disagreed. There was a brief silence, the only noise being shuffling of paper and the gentle scraping of drawers.

”Wait...Here! I think I-“ Jay gasped, being cut off by a chorus of shushing. "Sorry" He mouthed, holding up a passport.

Lloyd took it from him, looking it over before silently handing it to Zane. The nindroid took a longer look at the ID, eyes scanning over to the image and comparing it to the one of the person they had been following.

The nindroid nodded with a smile, giving them a quick thumbs up to confirm that the passport was of the right person.

Silent nods were exchanged, Cole sighing with relief as he made his way over to the door and pulled it open.

\------

It only took a second. One moment you were sitting, ear pressed against the door in a desperate attempt to hear even the slightest sound from the suddenly silent room, and the next you were falling forward as the door was pulled open, light spilling over you, stealing your sight for a second as eyes adjusted to the sudden change.

A strained yelp leapt from your throat as you scrambled back to the wall behind you. The smooth coolness seeped through your clothes and into your skin, your eyes tentatively travelling up the figure in the doorway. No one dared to move. You counted three figures in the visible area, but there could be more.

The stillness was almost painful, everyone waiting for another to make the first move. The person in the doorway slowly stepped back away from you, hands raised in a defensive pose.

The further back they walked, the more you could see of them. The man was tall, with tanned skin and fluffy, black hair peeking out from under his hood. He was wearing all black with silver metallic accents, an outfit you quickly recognised as a gi.

wait a second.

he was dressed as a ninja.

You focused on his face, eyes squinting as your they drifted over to the others in the room. Green and blue... it took an embarrassingly long time until it dawned on you who these people were.

”The ninja!?” You gasped, mouth falling open.

Tension dissipated from the room, the black ninja sighing deeply, shoulders relaxing as he nodded.

You stood on shaky legs, slowly walking into the room. You felt lightheaded. Why would the ninja be in your house??? And your bedroom of all places! Did you do something wrong? Didn’t they go after bad guys? Were you a bad guy!?

Now you were inside the room you could see the rest of them, including the newest addition to their team: the water ninja. They shifted nervously as your eyes scanned across them. Your change in expression from blank confusion to cold suspicion was enough to put them on edge.

”T-this isn’t as bad as it looks!” The blue ninja stuttered, before faltering, muttering “actually i-it kinda is...”

He was elbowed sharply by the red ninja, to which he responded by yelping.

"Ignore him." The red ninja sighed "He's a nervous talker"

"I am not..." blue grumbled quietly, rubbing at his side while a gentle blush crept onto the area of his face you could see.

"yes you are.”

”well, even if I was a nervous talker, I wouldn’t be taking right now. I’m calm. I’m calm! I’m calmer than you, Kai! I can’t be a nervous talker if I’m not nervous, which I’m not, because-“

"C'mon guys, don't make their first impression of us an argument." the green ninja sighed, stepping between the bickering boys before turning to you. He slipped his mask up and off of his face, shaking out his blond curls with a polite smile. You stared at each other for a second or two, neither of you saying a word.

He took a deep breath, sighing "I'm sorry that this is the way we are meeting. We didn't think you'd be going back to your house after seeing Jay on the roof-"

"Sorry about that." Jay apologised

"...We were just trying to make sure the rumours were true." He shrugged

Your heart dropped. Oh god, did they think you were a bad guy? Were they here to fight you? "W-what rumours?" you frowned

Lloyd seemed to notice your fear, saying "Nothing bad, I swear, But you really don't know?"

A shake of the head was all you could manage, hands still trembling with anxiety.

"Well... I don't think this is really the best place to talk about it." He admitted, gesturing around the crowded and sort of messy room "Are you free sometime tomorrow, so we can discuss it?"

You agreed that it wasn't really the best place, slowly nodding “S-sure..."

"Great! How about this address?" Lloyd smiled, digging through his pockets to pull out a slip of slightly crumpled paper. It had a postcode written on one side, and the name of a local diner on the other. 

You were silently happy you wouldn't have to go far, and that you had seen the place before. It was a smaller place, but the food was apparently very good for the area (which wasn't really saying too much if you were going to be honest). He held it out expectantly, waiting for you to take it

As you reached out, the fog of confusion clouding your head lifted for a second, reminding you that Elaina was still waiting outside for you! You jolted, gasping. The ninja were confused as you quickly took the slip from Lloyd, dodging out of the door and down the hall. 

Elaina ran to meet you at the door, pulling you into a bone-crushing hug as she cried "Y/N!"

She pulled back suddenly, turning your face and checking your arms for injuries. You could see the tears glistening in her eyes, and a pang of guilt pulsed in your chest at the sight of them. Gently, you took her hands away, holding them with a reassuring smile.

"I-I thought you were h-hurt..." She hiccupped, tears finally spilling over as she laughed incredulously "I th-thought you had died..!"

Her bleary eyes drifted over your shoulder, and she froze. You followed her eyes, looking behind yourself to see Lloyd standing in the doorway, with a shocked look on his face, the white ninja standing just behind him. You chuckled gently at the deer-in-headlights expression he had.

"I'll explain later" You promised, smiling at your friend's confused face.

\-----------

you had spent about half an hour with the ninja cleaning up the mess they had made. They had apparently been looking for an ID, or a journal of sorts, just to confirm this was where you lived. You told them that you didn't have time to write a journal (though you had tried many times, you admitted) but they did find your passport. It was an older picture, but still recognisable as you. Your hair was different in the picture, and you certainly didn’t look as exhausted as you did now.

”so how did you get in? I swear I locked the door.” You asked, tapping a handful of papers on the table to straighten them out

”Zane picked the lock.” Lloyd shrugged, taking the papers and slipping them back into the drawer they had been hanging out from.

”Huh. You guys do that often?” You hummed

”not really. This was probably the first time we broke into somewhere other than a villain stronghold.” Kai replied.

"Well i bet you leave their places cleaner than this." You chuckled, gesturing to a messy surface

"We sure do. I guess you could say we really good at" Cole pauses for emphasis, fist lighting up as rocky fissures form in his skin "taking out the trash." 

The group laughed at the pun, even if it was bad

there was a period of silence once again as you worked. You were happy that they had offered to stay and clean up, because this would’ve taken you all night to tidy alone.

The silence was breached by the quiet humming of Jay, who apparently didn’t like working without sound. He muttered the words to a song you vaguely recognised, tapping his foot. Cole was the next to join into the song, the words a little clearer than Jay's but still not enough to understand.

This encouraged Kai, then Nya, then Zane and finally Lloyd to join in on the song. None of them were saying the words clear enough for you to understand, voices overlapping to the point of near incoherency, but the tune was similar enough that you could tell they were singing the same song. You swayed to the beat of their singing, echoing parts you had heard in previous verses.

They laughed whenever another stumbled over the tune, but never maliciously. Time went much faster, their singing helping distract you while you worked. It was strange how friendly they were. You would never have guessed the mythically powerful and professional ninja would be the type to sing some cheap song off of the radio in a collage students home. It sort of made them more... human. It brought them down from untouchable gods that fought indominable foes, to just... people. Well, people and one nindroid, but he acted human enough.

Your eyes moved across them as they sang. You had never got to see the Ninja in person before this, only in articles and on the news. Whenever they showed up it was usually so dangerous that you to had to evacuate the city. You had actually gotten into the habit of taking evacuations as an opportunity to visit your parents, who lived in a smaller town up north of the city.

Your parents weren't the best. Yeah, you were alive, but you'd always had issues with mental health. They had very high expectations for you, and put a lot of pressure on you to do well. Your childhood had been very... distant. You didn't like to dwell on the past though. You just needed to focus on doing well, or as best you could.

Anyway... focusing on the ninja again. You could see the scars on some of their faces, a slash along Kai's cheek, a slit in Jay's brow and a peculiar green slash on Cole's temple. You wouldn't ask about that last one, though. That'd probably be rude.

It wasn't surprising that they'd be battle-scarred, either. It felt like it was almost every other day that a new villain showed up to threaten all of ninjago. It was because of that that you didn't expect them to be so... trusting? Friendly? You know that they'd likely been betrayed at least once (Civilians didn't get all of the details. Only what the police reports said). You just didn't know how to describe it more than... Familial. Around them, you feel comfortable, even if you know nearly nothing about them.

It was all to soon when the house was cleaned, left even neater than it was before they came. You had waved from the doorway as they piled into a dirty red van you had seen on the corner a couple times. You almost felt stupid to have missed its appearance over the last couple days, but you reminded yourself that they were ninja. They were meant to be sneaky. 

A yawn bubbled up from your chest, and you were barely able to stifle it as you closed the door, hearing the rumble of the engine and crunch of tires on old tarmac fade. You fell asleep almost as soon as your head hit the pillow, the stress of the day catching up to you in one big wave.

_..._

_A dream... ___

____

_It wasn't often you had dreams, but it was even rarer that they were lucid._

__

_You turned around yourself, trying to work out where you were._

__

_... Nothing. It was all black around you. Even if you couldn't see, there was an inexplicable feeling that there was no end to this vast darkness._

__

_You looked down. A pale glow emanating from the ground..._

__

_You lift your foot, taking a careful step back. The glow follows your foot. You put your arm out. A faint bar of light matches it._

__

S _o its like a mirror. You drop to your knees, light growing in intensity as more of your mirror touches the reverse of the ground beneath._

__

_The person on the other side isn't you. You can tell that much already. Their clothes are different shades, being solidly dimmer than the rest of their body, while your shirt is light._

__

_You cant see too much, though. The floor is fogged, but when you rub at it nothing changes._

__

_The floor is cold as ice, and it makes a hollow sound when you tap it._

__

_You frown, tapping harder. It clinks under your fingernail._

__

_You form a fist, bringing it down onto the frosty surface. It rumbles, a ripple of sound echoing off into the abyss, a pulse of light following._

__

_You watch the glow fade into the distance, eyes falling back down to see a crack._

__

__

_You pause, taking a moment to run your fingers over the fault before you hit again, crack growing with the brightening of the light. Your knuckles stung in the detached, unusual way pain always felt in a dream, more like the concept of pain than actual injury._

__

_The final time you hit, the wave of light lit up the entire void, the sudden switch of luminosity hurting your eyes._

__

_The floor bowed beneath you, creaking like ice on a lake for three tense seconds before it gave, howling wind and radiant light stinging your eyes and stealing your breath as shards of the glassy ground fell with you, and you were swallowed whole by the burning light._

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this chapter! I plan on posting at once every week, or two weeks at the very least, hopefully updating on Wednesdays... but then again I'm not exactly known for my consistency, haha.   
> Also, Art is by me! I'm planning on drawing at least one scene from each chapter. Give me a request if you want me to draw an extra scene and I'll see what I can do!


	3. Dicussion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3! I hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading this far :)

You hit the ground beside your bed with a thump. Shocking you from your dream. Your mind raced, heart pattering in your chest. You broke the glass! The light! Y-You were falling! You... had a dream. It had taken you a second to realise what had happened, body aching as a groan floated from your lips.

"What a way to wake up..." You muttered sarcastically, twisting up into a sitting position.

Only you could so successfully mess up a dream like that... Ugh. A waste of a good one... A lucid one too!

Your shoulder ached, and you rolled it as you stood again, trying to alleviate some of the pain. 

Yawning, you stretched, and felt the strange texture of your clothes... these weren't... Oh. You realised had never changed into night clothes. You plucked at your shirt with a sigh. Your clothes were now severely creased, but at least it gave you incentive to change. You were lazy, but changing clothes for a new day was something you always tried to keep consistent.

You wandered over to the drawer, looking though the clothes inside. There were a few good outfits for various occasions, but it was only for class, so it wasn't like it needed much thought. After removing what you deemed an acceptable outfit for the occasion, you finally took a look at the clock.

You went cold as you saw it was 10:40. Icy panic gripped you. Your lessons started at 9! Did you sleep through your alarm? Did you even set one? This was going to be horrible to catch up on! You’d have to reschedule your whole day! You'd have to- wait... what did you actually have today..?

Slowly, you remembered that it was a Sunday...

And you didn’t have school today. 

A relieved laugh slipped out as you relaxed, thundering heartbeat slowing back down to its regular rhythm. You had really lost track of the days... but then again, Friday and Saturday and had been so stressful, you weren’t entirely surprised that you had forgotten the date. Ok... you still had that meeting with the Ninja today. What time did Lloyd say to meet again? You were pretty sure the ninja had said to meet at midday, likely so you could talk with the group over lunch.

Well, even if you didn’t have any school, you still had to get ready to go out. Looking down at the clothes in your hands, you also decided a better outfit should be picked. You put the more casual clothes you wore for class back, pulling out another outfit. It was comfortable, but neat. You still wanted to make a good impression. Now you had an outfit ready, time to get in with your routine!

A shower was always first. Evenings were spent for homework and study, leaving you too tired to do much else, so the only time for showers were mornings (even if it was a tad inconvenient). If nothing else, they woke you up. You padded into the bathroom, leaving your dirty clothes in a basket by the door, turning on the shower and stepping under. The hot water was soothing to your still aching shoulder, body relaxing under the flow. A deep sigh was lost under the pattering of water on tile. 

If you could, you would’ve stayed under until the very last minute, but you didn’t want to risk being late. It took all of your strength to leave the waters warm embrace, cool air raising goose bumps on your skin as you rubbed away as much residual water you could with a towel. Ok. Now to dry and get dressed.

When you had finished drying your body and hair, the clothes you picked out earlier were put on. You flashed a smile into the mirror, doing some casual poses to check nothing looked weird or out of place. Yeah. This was good! Casual enough to not seem overly formal, but not the sort of casual you’d wear around the house or close friends. On a scale from casual to business.... probably a 4/10...

Its not like it had to be formal. It wasn’t like a job interview... right? You hadn’t really put much thought into what they were going to talk to you about. Lloyd had said he was going to talk to you about it at the restaurant, and nothing more, but that just made it worse.

Now you thought about it, the more you realised that you were completely unprepared for what they would propose. What if It was serious and they expected you to be in suitable clothes? You look at yourself in the mirror once again, A frown pulling your brows together. What if they expected something more formal? Or plain? Or fancy? Or..!

... or you just needed to cam down. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. They may be the ninja, mythical protectors of all Ninjago, but you didn’t have to be worried, right? You had talked to them, and they had been friendly enough... but maybe it was because they didn't want you to call the police? Stop! Nothing was going to go wrong. You needed to stop being so worried. 

“It’s going to be fine. You’re fine.” You reassured yourself, rubbing your still twinging shoulder absentmindedly.

Focus on what you needed to do next.... Food. Considering you were going to a restaurant, you were unsure if you should eat. You didn’t have the fastest metabolism, and would it be rude to go to a food place and not eat? Maybe... yeah. They wouldn’t invite you to somewhere with food and not eat. Your stomach grumbled in protest, a frown tugging at your lips. Maybe you should just have a small meal... you didn't really want to deal with the potential embarrassment if your stomach got any louder.

Instead of a bigger breakfast that would keep you satisfied, you quickly made and then ate a couple slices of toast. It was enough to stop the rumbling in your stomach, but you knew you’d be hungry again within an hour or two. Now you just had to wait... maybe watch some TV? You glanced at the clock. 11:07. Sure, why not?

Throwing yourself down onto your old sofa, you clicked on the television set. The default channel was the news, as was with most New Ninjago devices. After all, you never knew when another disaster would strike, and the time it took to switch between channels could be the difference between safety and danger. Gayle Gossip stood proudly on the screen, in front of what seemed to be a shop of sorts, with police tape covering the doorway.

"The only similarities between these robberies are that the only thing stolen are vintage tea sets, and in this most recent case, a box of tea?" the reporter said, pausing to subtly look to the side with a confused expression before continuing "Yes... a box of tea! An extremely rare kind, which contains the leaf of a plant said to be almost extinct!"

Huh. So the criminal liked their afternoon tea... very, very expensive afternoon tea. The reporter on screen continued as you thought.

"The suspect as said to be mid-height, masked, cloaked and ‘very suspicious‘." She smiled, grainy pictures from outside various antique shops filling the screen.

You snorted at the last descriptor. Honestly, you didn’t think she could be vaguer if she tried. She continued her description with a basic description of the events,

"The suspect somehow avoided every interior camera's direct view, as if they knew each location! And, In every case left behind a purple, highly poisonous, flower in the place of the stolen object!."

The reporter didn’t specify which, though, which was a little unusual. They were really dropping the ball when it came to details today, huh?

”We have here the owner of one of the shops affected. Please, sir, what do you think of this situation?”

An older man came into the shot. He had grey, receding hair and a round, wrinkled face. His neat white shirt and plum coloured waistcoat stood out against the monochrome buildings behind him, but what really captured your attention were his sharp, focused eyes hidden behind a pair of wire frame glasses. It wasn’t just how they were shaped compared to his face, it was also the colour, or should you say colours, they were. One eye was a shocking sapphire blue, and the other a light, sparkling grey.

”I just don’t know why they’d want my tea sets! Oh I did love those tea sets...” he worried, shaking his head with a sad expression “They weren’t even worth that much... If anyone has information, please help me get them back!”

You felt sad for the man, but it was hard to pay attention to what he was saying. You weren’t usually the type to get so focused on a detail like eyes, but they were almost unnerving in how out of place they were in such a soft, weathered face. They just looked so... mysterious? Could you describe eyes as appearing mysterious?

The camera turned back to the reporter, shocking you out of your trance as she spoke.

“If you think you could have any information on potential suspects, please contact your local police department.” The reporter smiled, before the screen changed again, flicking to the studio. They began a report on a play being performed at a nearby school. Apparently the profit was going to charity...

The report dragged on, interviews with teachers and children taking up the majority of the slot... They really were running low on news recently. You weren’t complaining. It was nice to not fear for your life for a while, but criminal activity being low wasn’t always considered a good thing in Ninjago. It had been a while since the ghost thing happened, and things had finally all but gone back to normal... in the past, it wasn’t long after this point that things had gone wrong. The entire city was on edge every day, waiting for a next disaster to occur.

Many of the damage to buildings had only just been fixed, having been damaged in the chaos when news of a ghost army reached Ninjago. People had expected it to go the way the nindroids or the fake Anacondrai invasion had gone, and panicked. Huh... come to think of it, maybe that’s why New Ninjago had such cheap housing nowadays. Housing in such a large city would generally cost upwards of $100,000, but then again it’s probably hard to get people to invest in a house with a 75% chance of being destroyed a month or so later. The low prices were why a student like you could get a house this early in your life.

You had continued watching the news, every report being near-pointless. They were mostly about the robberies, with another segment on the school show, and one report about a cat stuck in a tree being rescued. All boring as hell, but at least the cat was cute. At least you had gotten the chance to learn more about the break-ins, discovering that the nearly all shops affected were downtown, with very few of the uptown shops affected.

Probably because of Borg brand security systems people nearer to the city centre could afford... Targeting people specifically because they couldn’t afford things to protect themselves... it made you sick. You had recognised some of the shops in the report either by name, having seen them once or twice when you went for walks. You shook your head, looking away from the screen. A glance at the clock told you it was 11:25. Well, you should probably get going if you wanted to be on time.

You clicked the remote, TV blinking off and leaving the house near-silent. Since the restaurant wasn’t too far away, and the weather not too bad, you decided to walk. It was cool out, so you grabbed the scarf your mother had given you before you left. The soft fabric was a lovely forest green, and you ran your fingers across its surface before wrapping it around your neck. It was too bad that it didn’t go with many of your outfits, or you would wear it more. A quick check of your pockets confirmed your keys, phone and wallet. You were ready to go. 

Or were you? Paranoia tugged at your mind, reminding you of how the ninja had broken in... And with the recent robberies... well, this wasn’t an antique shop, and not every criminal had the skills they did, but it didn’t stop you from double and then triple checking you had locked all of your windows and front door before walking away.

The walk was nice, a gentle breeze rustling through the leaves and tugging at your clothes. A young man you vaguely recognised from school smiled politely as your passed but didn’t start a conversation. Probably for the best, you thought, you didn’t want to be late for the first meeting with the ninja... outside of catching them breaking in, of course.

You eventually arrived at the restaurant, the quiet clatter and clink of dishes and cups tinkling through the propped open door. Stepping through, you looked over the room. The inner décor was very cosy, all warm colours and wooden accents. Even though you couldn’t see many of the faces, none of the ones you saw were the ninja. Were you too early? You looked at your phone. 11:54. Lloyd had said to meet at 12... Should you wait outside or get a seat? Did you go to the wrong restaurant? Did you-

“Hey!” A familiar voice called, drawing your attention. A hand waved up over the high back of a char, and you followed it, hoping that whoever it was meant you. You wove through the tables, eventually rounding a corner to face the table where the hand was. You instantly recognised most of the ninja, even in their casual clothes. It was weird to see them out of their usual outfits, so you took a second to see what they were wearing.

Cole wore a plain black tank top and jeans, matching black wristbands wrapped around his forearms. Kai was wearing a bright red hoodie with a black and gold flame decal on the shoulder, black shirt peeking up from under it. Lloyd’s outfit was similarly casual, a green hoodie, white shirt and black jeans.

Nya had a dull red shirt under a black (what appeared to be leather) jacket, and dark blue jeans, while Jay had likely the most complicated outfit, with a white shirt and blue jacket, similarly blue jeans and an orange coloured scarf hanging loosely around his neck. 

It took you a second longer to identify the younger white-haired person in the group as Zane, who was wearing a white button up shirt with It’s sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and peach sweater vest. In your defence, the last time you had seen him he had looked quite different. You know... More... metal-y. 

There was also an old man with an impressively long beard, which you assumed was their master. Jay had vaguely described him the night before, and honestly you weren’t surprised that he came with them. It made sense that he would, if what they wanted to talk about was serious enough to have a second, separate, meeting.

The Ninja shuffled along the plush U shaped seat, making space on one side for you to sit. Cole was next to you, and he smiled politely. You smiled back, eyes drifting across the table. As soon as you sat comfortably, they mostly went back to their quiet conversation. They were talking about something, but you didn’t entirely know what it was without context. 

Somewhere in their conversation, Kai casually mentioned the break-ins, and your eyes flicked up towards them. Jay made eye contact with you, asking “Have you heard about them?”

“Yeah. I saw it on the news. Its just sad that they’re targeting all the small businesses…” You nodded.

“I think we should check it out.” Kai suggested, to which the others nodded in agreement.

“Really? I thought you guys only dealt with big bad guys?” You hummed, tilting your head. You didn't think they'd be the type to take down random criminals. It’d be all you’d hear about for days when the ninja had their battles. Their fights always made big news.

“We haven’t got anything better to do.” Cole shrugged “and plus, it’ll help the community.”

”that’s very kind of you.” You nodded with a genuine smile. Cole grinned sheepishly, shrugging again.

A comfortable quiet fell over the group as they sipped their drinks. You stared at your hands, twisting the edge of your scarf between your fingers. Should you actually ask why you were here. They had gone back to their conversations before, and you didn’t want to make it awkward. So far it had actually been quite nice... But then again, maybe you should just rip off the bandage. Could it be that they just didn’t want to comment on it? Were they too embarrassed? Did they expect you to take initiative and ask? Ah... what the hell...

“So… Uh- why did you invite me here..?” You asked nervously, clearing your throat before continuing “You never did tell me why.”

The group stopped, their passive conversation stopping immediately. Collectively, they looked to Lloyd. The green ninja chuckled awkwardly, slowly looking to his sensei, to find that said master was looking right back.

“Oh come on…” He grumbled, before looking up with an anxious smile. There was a pause when you looked at him, all of you waiting for him to continue.

“Ok… so you’re probably not going to believe me… but… you…” He seemed to struggle to find the most realistic way to put it, clearing his throat as you did before sighing “Y/N, you’re... the master of wind.”

The group immediately looked to you, trying to gauge you reaction to the news. You still appeared expectant, eyebrows raised as if waiting for them to say ‘gotcha! Ok so what we really wanted was-‘… but they never did. 

An awkward silence hung over you all. This... this couldn’t be real. Suddenly you let out a little laugh, looking hard at each of them, searching for the slightest crack in composure.

“Nah… me?” You laughed “Guys, you’re really nice to ask me here, but I think you have the wrong broke college student.”

“Y/N.. we’re not lying.” Lloyd insisted “You’re an elemental master.”

“You sure? I mean, I really think I would’ve noticed if I suddenly had wind powers.” You chuckled, shaking your head at the absurdity of it, waving your hands in the air as you laughed "Ooh! Wind powers go!"

“You do.” He frowned

“Then what can I do, if I am this ‘master of wind‘?” You giggled, making air quotes around the last phrase “ And what made you so convinced it’s me?”

They stopped, looking to each other with a questioning expression.

“What about… when your boss was yelling, and the window was blown open?” Cole suggested

“First off, how long have you guys been following me? Second, The latch was weak, and it had been really windy that day. It was only a matter of time ‘til it broke.” You reasoned with a casual shrug, being met with another short pause.

“What about when you were at the sport centre, and the ball moved in the air to not hit you?” Nya added

“I don’t think it was going to hit me anyway. It was probably the angle you were at that made it seem that way.” You deflected. This reasoning made sense to you now, but at the time you were pretty sure it was going to hit you…

The ninja stopped, trying to come up with evidence that you couldn’t reason away.

“What about....hm... oh! What about when you jumped really high to push the ball out of the tree!” Jay grinned triumphantly.

“Hey, I’ve always been able to jump pretty well.” You shrugged, but even you didn’t sound fully convinced.

“But could you jump that high?” Lloyd challenged with a smile “It was almost double your height.”

“I… I’ve been practicing.” You said, but you knew that was a lie… were… were they telling the truth?

They gave you a look while you considered, until you sighed in defeat, a blush creeping up onto your face.

“Ok… maybe I’ve just been a bit stupid…. I just thought they were coincidences!” You groaned, burying your face in your hands.

The group relaxed with a sigh, relieved that now that you were starting to believe them.

“I just can’t believe someone like me has powers? I’m just... me?” You frowned “, and you guys are you! The ninja! The amazing protectors of all Ninjago and beyond? I can’t be that!”

”Hey, we felt the same way!” Jay reassured

”we didn’t get like this overnight, you know?” Kai smiled.

“It doesn’t feel like it...” you sighed “all we see is how great you guys are! I can’t really imagine you being bad it what you do.”

“We sucked!” Cole admitted with a laugh “seriously! We had no idea what we were doing”

"Trust me, I know how you feel." Nya nodded "But you get to know them for a day, and boom: they're all dorks."

The group laughed at Nya's comment, varying degrees of agreement and acceptance evident in their reaction. You relaxed as you sighed, glancing up at the ninja and then to their master. He gave you a knowing smile, nodding slowly.

”...now we got that over with, can we PLEASE order some food? I’m starving!” Cole groaned suddenly, causing the table to erupt with laughter. 

He grinned back at his team, taking a menu out from underneath the table and gesturing to it “Hey! We were all waiting for someone to say it!”

The group only laughed harder, the remnants of tension and embarrassment melting away in seconds, until even you found yourself laughing along with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! please comment so i know you're still reading, or maybe even give kudos if you're enjoying it! Also (unfortunately) I've come down with a bit of a cold, and i'm having trouble writing, so chapter 4 may not be a tad later than ususal!


	4. Eye of the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, I know I've been gone for hecc knows how long. Its the autism making me LOVE something more than life itself for like a month straight then going from 100 back to 0 in a heartbeat. Idk about the overall quality of this chapter and some parts feel too rushed to me, but i already feel bad enough for keeping you all hanging

You returned from lunch a few hours later, feeling as if you were going to burst. You... you had powers! You could be a ninja! You could help people, and save so many lives, and make people feel safe! And it was weird that the powers chose you and not some super cool fighter and-

And you HAD to tell Elaina!

Your hand shot into your pocket, pulling out the phone and unlocking it. Words spilled out into the text, lightning fast but still not enough to keep pace with your racing mind. You didn't know how to put it! After a second of thought (enough to read over your typo filled text) you deleted it and hit the call button, practically vibrating in place as you waited for her to pick up.

Elaina, the ever reliable person she was, picked up seconds later, greeting you with a bright "Hiya Y/N!"

"You'd never believe what happened! T-the ninja told me I have wind powers, and I could be a ninja too and they said I could butIgottahavetrainingbutIstillcaninthefutureand-"

"Whoa whoa whoaaa! You're happy! I can tell! But about what? You broke up near the middle and got a liiittle too fast near the end there" She giggled "slow down a bit and tell me again."

"I know it sounds crazy, but I have powers!" You blurted out, a grin pulling at your cheeks as you laughed "The ninja told me!"

She was silent for a second, before...

“No way!” Elaina squealed, mic crackling on the other end of the call “You have superpowers!?"

”well... yeah! I don’t really know how to-“ you started, being interrupted by her excited continuation.

”So I’m friends with a superhero, and maybe future ninja!? Ah! Does that mean I’m your super cool, yet extremely lovable, ninja sidekick?” She asked.

You laughed, shaking your head “why would you want to-“ she sighed dramatically, interrupting you with mournful whining until you relented “Sure. You’re my super cool ninja sidekick.”

“Super cool, extremely lovable! Don’t forget lovable! I’m very lovable.” She corrected. You could hear the grin in her voice.

"Lovable? Why- haha- but why lovable?" you laughed, shaking your head

She attempted to reply, only getting the first part out before being caught up in the giggles, which only made you laugh more in response. There was a brief lull in conversation while you both waited to calm down before continued.

“But what was it like? I can’t imagine talking to THE ninja!”

”it was just so... surreal! I wish you were there! They were so nervous when it came to talking about it? Like they were scared to bring it up. It was really weird. You'd think they'd be really confident.” You hummed “it was like... they were just like us? Like, I know they’re basically the same age as us, but I guess we just have these... characters, things that we see on the tv and stuff, instead of their normal personalities?”

”So what's your impression?” She asked “I mean, they can’t be those brave heroes all the time, right? Were they nice?”

”Yeah, yeah. I know why you’re interested,” you smirked, raising your eyebrows “you wanna know about” you sigh dreamily, imitating her loving speeches about her celebrity crush “Kai~”

“Well- yeah! Of course I’d wanna know that, but in general!” she muttered, before giggling “ I was gonna just... slip the question in. Be subtle?”

“Knew it. But yeah they were nice. They weren’t all that different to what you’d expect.. Cole was a lot kinder than what we usually see, Kai was a bit more chill, Lloyd is super awkward..." You smiled "Zane is still just as quiet, and Nya is really nice! Jay is just SO nervous! All the time! I don't think he's good around new people”

"Really? Huh. I wouldn't think any of them would be scared by just talking to someone..."

"Yeah, but I guess defending a city doesn't really need people skills."

"I guess you're right" She agreed, pausing before asking "So when are you gonna start being trained?"

"I don't know. They gave me their number, so I can contact them when I'm ready to leave."

"Wait... leave?"

There was a heavy silence that fell over you both.

"Y...yeah..." You muttered. You hadn't thought about that part...

"...How far?"

"Um... their temple... o-on the mountains of impossible height..." a wince tinged your voice

"That... sounds far?" She sighs

"It is." You frown

"But you have to go, right?"

"No! I don't have to! They said I could go whenever!" You hurriedly reassured her.

"Really? So you can stay for a little longer?" She asked, sounding hopeful

"Yes! I can stay for as long as I need, Lloyd said so."

"That's good..." You could hear a smile in her voice. Another voice spoke in the background of her phone "Ah!"

"What is it?" You asked.

"Sorry, but my roomie reminded me I have a presentation to work on! I completely forgot! I'm sorry Y/N, but I gotta go!"

You sighed, but smiled and nodded "Ok! Good luck on that."

"You too, with your... thing"

"Thanks" You smiled, and after a second the line went dead. You stared into the dark screen, looking deep into your own darkening eyes.

Silence pressed into you like the air had turned to stone, your chest feeling cold. Lloyd had never actually said you could stay as long as you needed... You felt bad for lying, but you couldn't just leave! Now that you thought about it, you had a whole life here! You had a future ahead of you!

You had school, you had friends, you had family! You had a home and a job, and it wouldn't be right to just drop it on a whim... How would you pay for your house? If you ever needed to come back, you wouldn't have a place to stay if you couldn't keep up with bills... Does being a Ninja actually pay or is it one of those 'pays in the moral sense' things?

Ugh... just... just pack a little bag. Just in case you had to leave.

You only bundled up an outfit or two, and some basic supplies, stuffing it into a small carry-bag. You felt so tired, but it was still a couple hours 'til you could go to bed... you'd think more about it tomorrow... tomorrow for sure...

A few days later. You woke up with your alarm, washed, dressed and ate, went to school. You ate lunch, then went to work, then home. You did your homework, ate again, and went to sleep, sparing a longing glance towards the bag sat neglected but not unpacked hanging off of your chair.

...

The next week: the same. Wake up, school, work, home. Your glances at the bag were longer, and the more conscious you became of your powers, the more pronounced they seemed to become...

...

12 days later... at home, after work... the first time your powers were a genuine inconvenience. The day had been normal, and you had done all the things you had usually done, except when it came to homework. There was a test coming up, and you were just so stuck on this stupid question, you threw your pen. It was childish in hindsight, but you were frustrated. The noteworthy thong, however, was how ALL of your paper followed in a gust of air. The plastic writing utensil hit the wall with a clatter, being buried under a torrent of loose sheets. It had taken you an hour to sort them all again... 

...

this second week was when you finally invested in some bookmarks and paperweights. Any loose sheets were prone to being knocked about, and book pages blown left and right, which was especially annoying when you were trying to copy off a book and the page suddenly changed while you weren't looking.

...

... its been nearly two months... and you were still doing work...

The question in front of you was difficult, but not in the way that you couldn't solve it. Just confusingly worded. That's what you told yourself, anyway... But it was so weird! _What if you couldn't ans-_

Fluttering of shifting paper pushed those thoughts away, calm. Calm. Clear the mind.

The noise stopped, and you read it over again. The breeze pushed the corner of your paper as you reached for your cup of coffee. Sleep had been fleeting because of your recent nightmares, with you often waking up with your blanket halfway across the room and pillow on your face.

A gust splashed into the cup you sipped from, spattering coffee over your books and notes.

...

_Calm calm Calm CALM! No. Its ok. Take a break. The notes were bad anyway! This is a chance to redo them!_

You huffed, slowly lowering the cup before standing. Don't think of stressful stuff. Just think positive! All you have to do is-

The chair fell back behind you with a crash, the tip of one of its legs hitting your shin enough to scratch the skin.

Your breathing stuttered as your face warmed with anger

_its ok... its ok..._

the rattling of pens in their pots added to the hissing of shifting paper

_Calm down... calm..._

The cup splashed more, dark drops drippling down the sides.

_Deep breaths..._

Curtains started to rise, letting erratic flashes of light fill the room.

_Close eyes... rationalise..._

The tell-tale thunk of ceramic hitting paper felt like the only sound in the room as all movement ceaced

_you didnt want to open your eyes_

you did anyway, looking down to the table beneath.

Dark brown spilled across your books, blue and black ink notes quickly becoming unintelligible splotches on the page.. It was travelling quickly, already having dribbled down onto the floor, staining the carpet the same colour...

...and you snapped

Months of stress and frustration crashed down like a tsunami, an enraged yell tearing its way from your throat as the room was thrown into chaos. Wetted paper was torn from under their weights, pen holders tipping onto their sides and their contents joining the quickly growing tornado of chaos which was surrounding you. Weeks of held back tears streamed down your face, the rising wind tugging at your clothes and hair as you shook.

You didn't know how long it was until you finally calmed down. Your eyes stung and body ached. Items fell around you, draping damp sheets and pens across any uncovered surface.

...You fell to the ground, and cried some more.

\---POV NINJA---

The room was quiet as the tv played. The news was always somewhat interesting, and it was fun to hear about what was going on outside of Ninjago from time to time.

"should we check on y/n?" Lloyd sighed, looking over at his team

"huh?" Kai hummed, looking mildly confused "Who?"

"Y/N! The wind person? We met them not two months ago."

"Oh yeah! now I remember..." Kai nodded, scratching his neck "... it really has been ages now."

"did they not like us?" Jay sighed, a nervous frown on his face "If they haven't called by now, we have to have done something."

"damn... did we scare them off?" Cole hummed, before suggesting “should we check up on them or something?”

“But if they’re scared before wouldn’t that make them more scared?” Jay countered

Quiet fell over the group again, the stream of sound from the television keeping the room from feeling silent.

“ugh... these robberies are getting really annoying” Kai grumbled, gesturing to the news story being shown: The story about the tea (and now plant) thief “no leads! we checked every camera, every system, every surface!”

“It’s like they’re always one step ahead...” Nya agreed “its frustrating...” 

A grand building towered above the reporter as the cameraman tilted the shot up, showing viewers the garish logo of the tech-advanced agricultural company glittering above...

“I think we should go visit them." Zane agreed, continuing the conversation.

“all of us? what if that just scares them off?” Cole shrugged

“well then... why don’t just one of us visit?” The robot suggested

“but who?”

Shuffling of fabric, as all heads turned to the green ninja, filled the lull in conversation.

“Oh, come _on_ guys! Why is it always me...” Lloyd whined, rubbing his face

“You're the green ninja! our leader! the public love you!” Kai grinned

“Exactly! I’m a leader, not a recruiter!”

“Neither are any of us, Lloyd.” 

The green ninja groaned deeply, as his team snickered, tilting his head up as he turned

“ _...fine..._ lemme get dressed...” he conceded, leaving the room.

"Thaaaanks Lloyd!" Cole grinned, starting up the laughter once again

\---time skip---

A sharp knock wakes you from your burnout-induced nap, causing you to jolt. Your mind was sluggish, still struggling under the weight of lost sleep. In the background, you could hear the muffled mumbling of the TV... was that where the sound came from..?

Sleep called to you again, and you could feel your eyelids begin to close, before another set of knocks shocked you back awake. That was not the tv!

A yawn bubbled up from your chest as you rolled over, pushing yourself off of your bed and out of your room. Fingers fought against sleep-tangled hair as you stumbled to the front door, eyes blinking blearily, still foggy from just waking up. The door opened with a creak, and you barely manage a simple “m’yeah?” before you were interrupted by a yawn.

A blur of bright green meets your eyes as the door opens further... “Uh... hi?” Lloyd smiled- wait... Lloyd? 

"Oh... Hello." You manage to choke out, a nervous blush flooding your cheeks. You were really standing here, messy hair, clothes you had fallen asleep and just woken up in, in front of THE GREEN NINJA.

"Uh... sorry to bother, but did you ever put more thought into joining us to train?"

Your mind goes blank at the mention. You had completely forgotten about the training. A breeze wafts through the room, catching his hair, but he doesn’t seem to notice. You do. A silence falls hesitantly, a thick air of tension seeming to slow the world around you. You'd just ignored it, hoping it would go away! You never expected the ninja to come and check on you...

"Its fine if you don't want to! you don't-"

The door flies from your grip, slamming back into the wall with a resounding bang. The only thing that saved your wall from the addition of a new hole was the doorstop you’d installed for just this kind of situation.

You made the mistake of glancing up at the ninja, who, almost surprisingly, looked near-unreadable. The only thing you could see for sure was the fear, which was bubbling just beneath the surface of his cautiously composed frown.

"I am so sorry!” You gasped, covering your mouth “I-I've just been trying to ignore them... but-"

"ignore..?" he muttered, suddenly looking more concerned than upset.

"The... The powers! They’re so annoying! It’s just...”

You hesitated, casting a look to the side. A heavy paperweight holding down a couple notes caught your eye.

"I guess they don't really like being ignored..." you admitted, pulling your eyes away. The hall is once again silent, the faint crinkling of loose paper keeping your thoughts at bay.

“y/n...” Lloyd sighed. You prepared for the laugh. Someone like him probably thinks you're being so stupid! ”You look tired... when’s the last time you slept? Properly?”

You weren't expecting that. 

"I've... been busy." You lied. Those weird, near-nightly dreams made it hard to stay asleep for more than a few hours at a time. Lloyd didn't look convinced, face falling into a suspicious frown.

"Can I-" He paused, seeming to think about his wording "... Can we talk inside?"

You nodded, stepping to the side to let him in. He walked past you, casting his eyes over the hall. Everything that could possibly be blown around was held in place by paperweights, and everything with a door was tied or taped closed. It looked like a house babyproofed against ghosts.

"So.... You're having trouble sleeping?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Yeah. There's these weird dreams I get and I wake up in the night and my rooms all messy. I think my powers are something to do with it." You sighed, closing the door

"you're having nightmares?"

"Kinda... maybe? Only a little. They're not always scary." 

"And your powers? From what you've said, it sounds like you're having a bit of trouble with them."

"yeah! they just... show up at the worst times!"

"like when you're mad?" he sighed, leaning into the main room for a second before going in.

"Yep." You nodded, following.

"Do you find them hard to channel, and easier to just let go wherever?"

"yeah?" You nod again, a little more slowly this time "This is getting pretty specific. Is this something you've seen before?"

"You could say that." He smiled, lowering himself onto the sofa with a sigh.

"Who was it?" You smiled "Was it Nya? I know she's newer to the team than the rest of you guys"

"It was me, actually." He corrected. with a short laugh.

"Really?" that was surprising. You'd never guessed that Lloyd, leader of the Ninja, would have had any trouble with his powers.

"yeah! back when I was a kid, master Wu made me power lightbulbs to control my powers." He nodded, leaning his arm on pillow beside him.

"were you good at it?"

"At the start? Not at all. I always used too little power, then too much and burst them." He chuckled, shaking his head "I used to go through whole boxes, and then get mad and blast something. Never focused enough to do any real damage, but just to make me feel like I was doing something right."

"sounds destructive" You hummed, sitting on the other end of the sofa, a frown pulling at your face. how nice he got training when he was a kid, and didn't have to deal with the stuff you are

"Yeah. Not proud of it, but trust me when I say I know how you feel about your powers."

The room was quiet after that comment, something inside of you twisting unhappily "...but... you don't..."

"huh?" Lloyd frowned

A gentle breeze caught your hair, but you didn't notice. You were too busy forcing your voice into stability.

"Did you have to leave behind a job? Your school?"

"I-" he starts. You cut him off, months of repressed anxieties beginning to spill out

"and what about a future career? Friends and a family, huh? What did you leave?"

He was silent, seeming to finally notice the way his clothes are being pulled by an unseen wind, eyes widening as he watched you stand.

"I've worked so hard for this! I can't just leave school to be a ninja!" You yelled, taking tight handfuls of your own hair. The wind was rising further, making fabric whip wildly in their places. If you weren't so angry, you'd probably have been able to see the terrified way Lloyd was looking at you.

"I have so much! And I-" All at once, your anger ran out, quickly being replaced by the crushing weight of despair "...I'm _scared_! Scared to leave it! My powers are making it so hard to study a-and its all been getting worse!"

Tears were blown away almost as fast as they gathered, wind biting your wet cheeks. You knew you needed to calm down, but it just kept coming out no matter how hard you tried to stop it.

"I'm scared of what will happen if I don't stop it! I-I'm scared that one day i'm gonna hurt someone! Or myself! Or- Or- I don't know!" Almost comically, a forgotten pad of paper is finally torn from under its weight, whizzing past you. Lloyd ducked with a yelp, narrowly avoiding being hit squarely in the face as he moved. The wind rises further, making it hard for him to keep his eyes open.

"I don't wanna hurt anyone! But I don't know what'll happen if I leave!" The wind peaked again for a second, before coming to a complete stop as you fell to your knees, leaving only a chill in the air behind, like the eye of the storm.

"I..." Your voice was shaky, and as weak as you felt as you cried into your hands " _I don't want to be wrong._ "

The tension in the air was tangible as Lloyd began "Y/n..." 

He was going to leave. He was going to laugh. He was going to tell you to never contact them again. Why did this stupid power have to chose you anyw-

"... whatever you choose, you won’t be wrong. If you don’t think you’re ready, you can stay here." He continued, before adding "And we won’t ever bother you again."

Your breaths were slow and purposeful as you responded, trying to lessen the hiccups that repeatedly interrupted your words "what... if I wa-ant to go? What if I-I want to be ready?"

He smile was like sunshine through your clouds as he held out his hand "Then you can come with me, and train with us." 

You took it, and huffed slightly as you stood on shaky legs. He opened his arms, silently offering a hug. You took that too, leaning you head on his shoulder, trying your best not to get any tears on him as a fresh wave spilled forth.

"You'll never have to be scared about hurting people, because you'll only be doing good. That's what being a ninja means, after all." He sighed, rubbing your back. You stayed that way for another second or two before pulling away with a smile. You'd visibly calmed down, face still puffy but not as red.

"Thanks, Lloyd."

You both took another moment to breathe, Lloyd flashing a nervous smile before you continued.

" If you could come back tomorrow... I’ll tell you my final decision?" You suggested. At the moment, you were just tired, and didn't really want to make any life altering decisions in the state you were in. 

"That sounds ok to me. Same time?" He nodded, flashing another smile as me made his way to the door

"Yeah." 

"Do you want... anyone in particular to come pick you up? Or am I alright to come again?" He asked, looking over.

"Anyone’s fine. I don't mind" You replied, shrugging

"Ok, Y/N. I’ll... see you tomorrow... probably." 

"Ok!" You giggled, waving as he left your view. 

The house was quiet after that, the only sound being that of the door as it swung open then closed, leaving you alone once again. A deep sigh left you, shoulders dropping as you flopped down onto the sofa. God... you really were tired.

Lloyd words played again in your mind... _'whatever you choose, you won't be wrong'_

_... you hoped he was right..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> consistent updates? who's she lmao. I'm really trying this time, though. I have this whole storyline and everything! Hopefully my motivation will pick up once I get past the 'intro' stage (yeah this is the 'intro' to the story imo. just setting up plot points and character personalities.)


	5. apologies :(

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies. This isn't a chapter!

After much consideration, I've decided to take a temporary step back from this fic, and to remake the story. I did have one in mind when I wrote the first chapter, but I never really went into depth with it, leaving future me in the dark about what to do and where to take the bare bones storyline I had written weeks before. 

Additionally, I am not a consistent updater. I know I that before I said updates every week, or every other week, but that was honestly just wishful thinking. I have bad mental health, and don't often have the energy to continue stories due to my fandoms changing at light speed, but for this one I want to try, because Ninjago has always been a major part of my childhood and I want to make content I enjoy about something that brought me so much happiness.

Also, If you want a ship to be implemented, be it '____ X reader' or otherwise, now is the time to say! Comment it! Idc about how much of a rarepair it is, If you like it and I don't hate it, I'll try my hardest to put it in. (if no one suggests anything, I guess I'll just go with either canon relationships or ones I like. I don't mind, I just want this to be a better experience for my readers!)

This is not me saying that I'm abandoning this story! What I'm doing is anything but that! I want to write more, and I'm very sorry for the inconvenience of taking so goddamn long. 

I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I get the story ironed out :)

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are what keep me going! Thanks for reading :)


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